TAMPA, Fla. -- Former New York Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles, a key member of the team's late '70s and early '80s World Series teams, will undergo surgery for prosate cancer early next month.
"They told me they got it early," Nettles said Saturday. "It's curable. It's treatable. So I've got to think positive."
The New York Post first reported that Nettles, a Yankees' spring training instructor, was diagnosed with the cancer last November. Doctors told Nettles the surgery could wait until after the team completed its exhibition season.
"A pretty good scare," Nettles said. "They said I may have had it a few years. So there wasn't any urgency, I always thought there would be an urgency of getting it out of your body, but they thought it wouldn't matter a couple months."
Nettles got tested after his brother Jim, a former major leaguer, informed him that he had prostate cancer.
"The doctor said it runs in the family, so I went and got tested," Nettles said.
Graig Nettles said his brother underwent surgery and is doing fine.
Nettles played with the Yankees from 1973-83. He has talked with former New York manager Joe Torre, who had prostate cancer.
"He was the first one I talked to," Nettles said. "He told me what he went through, and recommended the doctors."
Surgery has been scheduled for April 8 at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the Post reported.
Nettles had a 22-year career with six major-league teams, reaching the playoffs with the Twins, Yankees and Padres. But he's best known for his 10 seasons in New York, during which the Yankees won four penants and three World Series titles.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.